Via Afrika

• Via Afrika [EMI America, 1985] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Via Afrika [EMI America, 1985]
That's as in Afrikaner--e.g., vocalist/bassist/drum programmer René Veldsman, who cut this strange little record with Michele Howe two years before they both emigrated and sang backup on "Sun City." It's all rhythm and soulful chants/shouts that with the help of the electronic drums come across distanced rather than passionate. This seems appropriate, somehow--I don't miss the cloying sincerity of such white Africans as Johnny Clegg and Tony Bird. And n.b.: beyond a pleas to "Save Crocodiles" on the back cover, there are no politics here at all. B+